FW/PBS, INC., DBA PARIS ADULT BOOKSTORE II v. CITY OF DALLAS

Legal Principle at Issue

Whether a Dallas ordinance licensing "sexually oriented businesses" amounted to a prior restraint on protected expression, violating the First Amendment.

Action

Affirmed and reversed (or vacated) in part and remanded. Petitioning party received a favorable disposition.

Facts/Syllabus

Respondent City of Dallas adopted a comprehensive ordinance regulating "sexually oriented businesses," which are defined to include "adult" arcades, bookstores, video stores, cabarets, motels, and theaters, as well as escort agencies, nude model studios, and sexual encounter centers. Among other things, the ordinance requires that such businesses be licensed, and includes civil disability provisions prohibiting certain individuals from obtaining licenses. 

Three groups of individuals and businesses involved in the adult entertainment industry filed separate lawsuits challenging the ordinance on numerous grounds and seeking injunctive and declaratory relief. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas upheld the bulk of the ordinance, but struck down several subsections, and the city subsequently amended the ordinance in conformity with the court's judgment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed, holding the ordinance's licensing scheme did not violate the First Amendment despite its failure to provide the procedural safeguards set forth in Freedman v. Maryland (1965), and that its civil disability provisions and its provision requiring licensing for "adult motel owners" renting rooms for fewer than 10 hours were constitutional.